Job or Culture Immersion

Full Time Job or Language Immersion, Which Would You Do?

As I start my life in not only a new country, but also, an entire new society with a completely different language  it makes me ask the question, should I focus on looking for an American speaking job now, or spend my time immersing myself in the Israeli culture and language first.  I've spent many hours debating this with Americans and Israelis alike, and have come to one major conclusion, nobody truly knows the answer.

In my personal opinion, and by no means am I correct in this, integrating seamlessly into society is the most important aspect of this big move.  Right now I walk down the street and hear everyone speaking Hebrew and I keep on saying to myself "I want to do that".  Since this can't be done overnight, I believe that focusing on a 5-month Ulpan (Hebrew immersion classes), which the government will pay for while subsidizing my living for the first six months, seems to be a no-brainer.  Why not take advantage of a system that allows me to learn for free while also paying for me to live?  The answer is not so simple though. 

I was recently offered a job that would allow me to utilize my English in a position and industry that I'm not totally familiar with.  If I take it, I have complete financial stability, but I won't be able to improve my Hebrew.  However, if I don't accept it, which i ultimately decided on who's to say that in 5 months, Ulpan, that I'll be able to even find a job?  

For now, I'll focus on part-time work, hoping that it can lead to something bigger.  But I guess this really just proves one major thing, there's no real answer in life.  We just need to make quality sound, quality decisions and roll with the punches either way